Photo credit: Freaktography (CC-By-ND-NC 2.0)
Halloween is quickly approaching, a time of year filled with hayrides, haunted houses and horrors. However, one thing may be scarier for our hardworking Iowa families and job creators in Iowa’s 3rd Congressional District – the fact our federal government is on track this year to publish the most rules and regulations in our nation’s history.
Burdensome, costly and ineffective federal rules and regulations created by Washington bureaucrats threaten small businesses, good paying jobs, and the bottom line of hardworking families in Iowa and across the country. Almost three-quarters of America’s small businesses reported last year that regulations were the top factor hurting their “operating environment”. Unnecessary rules and regulations cost our job creators time, money, and opportunities when struggling to comply.
What’s more, a report released earlier this month found that labor regulations this year alone are expected to cost our economy $80 billion and 150,000 jobs. This development is troubling, and we cannot stand by while harmful rules and regulations may ultimately stand to threaten the ability of Iowans to pay their bills and provide for their families.
In Congress, I have been working to develop and support commonsense legislation to strengthen the economic security of hardworking Iowans and their families, policies that facilitate and restore economic security and opportunity for future generations. I continue fighting to address the heavy hand of the bloated federal bureaucracy and the costly rules and regulations within it.
I have introduced legislation to improve the transparency of the regulatory rulemaking process, by holding federal bureaucrats accountable for their participation in any rulemaking. In particular, this legislative fix requires federal bureaucrats or contractors specifically cite their participation alongside the publication of the rule, as well as the legal authority for the rulemaking.
Additionally, last year, I authored an amendment requiring agencies cite the sources they used, such as data or studies, to make a new rule. Agencies are not currently required to do this. My amendment was included in the Regulations from the Executive in Need of Scrutiny (REINS) Act, legislation to prohibit an agency from imposing a new regulation that would impact our economy by $100 million without congressional approval.
I also voted for and the House passed the Searching for and Cutting Regulations that are Unnecessarily Burdensome (SCRUB) Act. This bill establishes a commission to review existing federal regulations to identify and recommend to Congress regulations that should be repealed to reduce unnecessary regulatory costs to the economy. Both bills were approved by the House and await consideration in the Senate.
Simply put, our Iowa families and job creators deserve better. We must address the rules and regulations strangling our Iowa families and job creators, and cut the red tape that hurt hardworking Americans across the country. We must ensure our government is more efficient, accountable, effective and transparent, and in Congress, this is what I’m working to do for the hardworking Iowans I represent.